Monday, October 31, 2011

68%

A recent poll reports that 68% of America's college students CHEAT. When asked why, the students said it was because of the pressure.

What does this say about this generation?

It reads directly to our moral fiber and the shift in our society.

When it was once unheard of to get a divorce, more marriages now end up in divorce then those that succeed. When it was once an embarrassment to collect unemployment, more people try to think of ways to go on it and to "work the system".

Both teach our kids about loyalty, commitment and self respect or lack thereof.

Again, it is all connected. What is happening in our economy and our overall businesses is a direct reflection of the shift in our work ethic and our reluctance to commit.

68% OF COLLEGE STUDENTS CHEAT AND THINK THAT IT IS OK.

They then not only cheat themselves out of truly learning but they start down that path that says, "do whatever you have to do", no matter what.

WRONG!

If we are to see a change of how our kids think, it must start with the examples that adults set. When you start to cheat, give up and not truly apply yourself, it will creep into your life more and more and become just a daily matter of fact habit.

If you do not stand for something, you will fall for anything.

The first line in the famous best selling self help book, The Road Less Traveled, says
"LIFE IS HARD"

Learning, relationships, teaching and the work place, can all be hard but shortcuts will NEVER work.

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Imagination in the work place

As I have said it is all connected.
 Imagination is important and today in the work place it is a necessary ingredient.

In Apple's "Think Different" commercial in 1997 they said-
The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.

Most work places, as in my own, are catching up with technology.
Our challenge is to always be thinking of ways to improve what we do and how to encompass and use all the tools around us.
The possibilities are limitless now, thanks to Steve Jobs and Apple and Bill Gates and others.

Take a good look at what you do today and how your are doing it. Can you streamline it, can you create a computer program to help you gather the information and distribute it? Can the computer help you teach and train? Can it help you communicate with others faster and then document the conversation or transactions?
Chances are the answer is yes.

Robert Kennedy said " Some people see things the way they are and ask why, I see things the way they could be and ask why not".

Do not be content with doing things the same way.

Think of what you are doing throughout the day and then think how a computer program can make you more efficient .
If you can think it then you can do it.
If you don't someone will... sooner or later. Be a leader.

You do not need to know how to write a program you only need to be able to articulate it. Write it down, as the day goes on write yourself a note if you think of something that needs improvement or if an idea hits you.
Scribble a quick note and think about it more after or talk about it with a co worker or friend. Once you feel you may have something, ask to talk it over with a programmer. Explain your goal and your ideas and vision and watch it begin to take shape.

Today more then ever we need IMAGINATION.

Friday, October 28, 2011

It Is All Connected

Many of my posts have to do with my philosophies or life's lessons but at age 54, I do not propose to be the old guy with all the answers...far from it. I am still trying to learn every day and to stay on the right path.

When I speak about life and thoughts of how to treat others, I absolutely believe that it is also tied to business in general and how to improve...it is all connected.

At the beginning of each day, we all must start fresh and remind ourselves what it is all about. We are all just visiting and in the end, what will we leave behind.

With the passing of my mother recently, I was reminded once again of this cold hard fact. I visited her every day while she was in a manor this summer where they tried to help her recover from her stroke.

The walk down the corridors reminded me daily of how fast and fragile life is. In each room and in the corridors were dozens of men and women mostly in their eighties. All they're in need of is some help and therapy.

Some in wheel chairs, some in walkers and some confined to their beds.
All had a story to tell and a life once full of energy, work and family.
Now they struggle to walk, eat and converse.

All the time they spent worrying about climbing any cooperate ladder or time spent in envy of others was now a distant memory and time I am sure they wished they had back.

Again I do not pretend to be a philosopher of life but I do try to learn from it...every day.

Work hard, always do your best. Give work 100% while you are there, be honest and try not to hurt others. When you are wrong, say so. When you handle a situation wrong, go back and correct it.
Swallow your pride and put away your ego.
When I walked down those corridors every day this summer, as stressful as this summer was, it helped bring to light what is really important and how fast time goes by.

Success in business, personal philosophies, family...it is all connected.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Imagination

As adults we tend to lose our imagination.

That is why children and grandchildren are so important, they remind us of a time when our imagination was limitless.

My son-in-law has a brother with special needs and he lives in his world of imagination every day. He is in his early twenties and lives in that world to this day. In order to be in his company and growing up with him, his family is pulled into his world of imagination very day.

I do believe that it is a gift. My son-in-law and his family view the world differently because of it.

How my son-in-law treats and sees others, most importantly his own son now, has benefited by this up bringing and he is able to see the world through the eyes of a child and with imagination.

We are forced to grow up and in doing so we tend to leave our imagination behind which is a shame because it is there that the impossible becomes the possible.

Our greatest leaders and inventors of the world were able to keep their feet in both worlds.

THE SECRET IS GROWING OLD WITHOUT GROWING UP!

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Worring About The Other Guy

The one common denominator that I have seen in business in general are the people that are more concerned with what the other guy is doing.  They are the people that fail and never reach their own true potential.

Rather you are a driver, employee or agent those that spend more time wondering about others and what they are doing or how much they get paid or why they were offered something rather then them DO NOT GET IT.

Those that come in each day and just try to improve themselves GET IT.

We have an employee that comes in each day and does just that, he does not get involved in the gossip game or spends time worrying about what others do. He simply comes in, gets to work and tries to improve his area of responsibility.

He is appreciative of his job and the opportunity.

HE GETS IT.

Once a person starts down that road of following of what others do, they start down the road of failure.

It's one thing to worry about others because you want to help them or help the overall process, it's another to worry about what they do because you are jealous.

Do not worry or spend time on what you do not get, but spend your time improving on what you do get.

The rest will follow.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Pick Up Games

Who would of thought that my generation, growing up in the late 60's and 70's , would see the last of  "the pick up games".

After school or during the summer if we wanted to play baseball, football or basketball, we would walk the neighborhood and knock on our friends doors and make up our own teams and play until the 8 o'clock whistle blew. We knew that was the time to head home.

Kids no longer have that ability because they rush home to tap on the computer or play video games and most kids just don't hang out in the neighborhoods like we use to for several reasons, some being safety.

If we weren't playing sports, we were just hanging out on the front steps or the picnic tables playing cards or talking. Our dogs roamed free along side us, no leashes and certainly no picking up their poop.

Today everything is organized, from the age of six and up. You need to join a team. Adults need to coach and parents need to drop you off. In some cases, you need to get chosen and you may need to sit the bench.
Parents that stay to watch some times get so involved that they yell at their kids and put pressure on them at a young age.

I can't help but think that this all starts to effect young kids with how they learn and communicate and it also can build or start to erode a young person's confidence. It carries over as young adults and adulthood with how a person interacts and what they feel they can do or not do.

Kids need to be kids with just kids and given the chance to try things without an audience or adults or being judged.

Monday, October 24, 2011

Friends and Relationships

After attending this year's Arpin Convention, we are all reminded once again how lucky we all are of friends and relationships that we have with so many people throughout the United States.

We have the good fortune to be in a business that allows us to know and bond with so many different people and personalities across the country.

Rather it's our friends from the Southeast or our good friends from CA, TX or the great Northwest that we feel blessed.

When ever we leave the conventions or the regional meetings, we feel revitalized and ready to come home and get back at it.

A lot of it comes from the support and stories that we all receive from each other.

Sure we learn a lot, especially this year with all the changes coming down the road, but just as important are the moments we spend pool side or just sitting around. We get to catch up, not only with work stuff but personal and family stories.

Success in business and in life remains the same through the ages and as sophisticated as we get and as advanced as we are with technology, RELATIONSHIPS are still the bedrock and the foundation we all need to grow and learn and in the end, it is our biggest reward.

Friday, October 21, 2011

Looking Beyond

Do you know of someone who always seems to look beyond you?

They only seem to recognize you when they need you or need something from you?

Do you respect them or want to work with them?

Always try to stay in the moment and give that person you are speaking to your undivided attention and let them know you care.

No matter what your title or the situation, you should treat everyone with respect.
When you look through someone or yea yea them on the phone, you lose their attention and most of all their respect.

You never know when that person may come back around and lend a hand, the old what goes around comes around is true. Call it fate or kismet or what ever you want to call it but it will come back to you one way or the other.

Let them feel, for that moment at least, that they are all that matters.

Nothing is worse then speaking to someone as they continue to write something down or check their phone for their latest text.

It screams that you are not as important.

Look them in the eye, STOP, LOOK and LISTEN

DO NOT LOOK BEYOND THEM

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

BIG NEWS....


ARPIN has announced a seamless solution for warehousing from doorstep to delivery. ARPIN agents and drivers will be the first in industry history to be able to track a shipment electronically from estimating to final delivery, and every step in between. This includes transit and warehousing. This system is poised to change the industry, and ARPIN is leading the way.

Fresh off our convention Arpin is paving the way for the future.
Driver's inventories will be available to be completed on any smart phone, iPad or lap top. Streamlining the process and enabling you to take pictures and attaching directly to the piece on the inventory. Take videos of your in house inspection report and attach it directly to the document.
Email the customer a copy of the inventories before you leave the residence. Email your agent or the destination agent your complete paperwork .
A paperless process.
It includes bar codes and a scanner so that you stick a bar code on the piece you are inventorying and scan it, it will automatically read on your device ready for any exceptions and or pictures.
With the bar coder and the scanner your delivery time will be much quicker as you will be able to simply scan the piece coming off your truck to verify delivery. If you try to deliver a piece that does not belong to that lot it will alert you.
Once sent the assignment of a move you will be sent electronically the survey on the move and once you begin the inventory process it will match room for room what was on the survey.
There is so much more....we are very excited to be the first in the industry to hand these tools to our agent family and our family of drivers and packers.
STAY TUNED FOR MORE...


Monday, October 17, 2011

Appreciation

Appreciating what you have has a lot to do with what you had, or did not have, when you were growing up.

For instance for my parents that grew up in the early 1900's, they did not have in-door plumbing. They had an outhouse in the back of their house to go to the bathroom.

We cannot have the same appreciation for the bathroom in our houses as they do today. We just take it for granted.

The automobile was just starting to be mass produced but even then, not every one could afford one.

People actually walked to places.

People huddled around the radio and television would not hit the scene until the 50's.

I was born in 1957 and growing up, we had one black and white TV that received three channels, and even at that we may have a lot of "snow" on the screen. Rich to us was the guy on the block that had a rotary antenna on his roof so he was able to get another channel or two.

We did not complain because we were just excited to have TV and we had no idea what we were missing because we never had it.
How can a teenager of today appreciate their 62" flat screen in high def with a thousand channels on it with a touch of their remote the same we that grew up with three channels that you had to actually get up and switch the channel?

Our children have so much more , just as we had so much more then our parents and grandparents.

It is so easy to take everything we have for granted. We get stuck in this whirlwind called life and seem to chase the day. We need to remember what we have and how rich our lives are.

My son is just returning from a month journey from Hyderabad, Bangalore, New Delhi, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Seoul. Shanghai and Beijing.  He is returning to the United States with a new appreciation.
He has now seen first hand how most of the world lives and what they have and what they will never have in their life time.

In one country, children need a uniform in order to attend school, uniforms cost $8.00 and most can not afford that so they can attend school. Thus just adding to their strive and turmoil never having the opportunity that we all take so much for granted.

As we go about our day, as kiss our children good bye for the day, as we approach our work day and personal life may we always take the time to truly realize what we have....and have appreciation.

Friday, October 14, 2011

Smartphones, iPads and E-Mail

Today's driver has the advantage of so much more technology. Take advantage of it...embrace it.

Change is difficult but necessary in order to improve.

Smartphones, iPad's, laptops are all tools that will help you communicate quicker and better. Not only at work but with your families and in your personal life.

Don't fight it, learn it...embrace it.

I equate it to a carpenter. You can arrive to work to build a house with your hammer in your tool belt or you can invest in an air compressor and nail gun and do a better job.

These tools of communication are the driver's hammer.

Arpin is working hard and investing in ways so that we can all improve in the work place.

Operations will be fully computerized by the Spring, this will enable us to communicate better and faster with all of our partners. We will be more efficient and in return, we will all be more profitable.

Arpin has a driver inventory system that all of Arpin partners will be connected to, therefore streamlining what we do and eliminating paper.

This is only the beginning. Arpin will continue to be a pioneer and to help lead the way.

Friday, October 7, 2011

WORDS TO LIVE BY

Here are some excerpts from a speech at Stanford given by Steve Jobs CEO and founder of Apple ..

You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life. When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

..After being diagnosed with cancer he said-
Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.
..He went on to say...
No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.
Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.


Here is the link to his entire speech if you ever have the time http://news.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs-061505.html




Thursday, October 6, 2011

Think Different

With the passing of Steve Jobs we are reminded of what one man can do to change the world.

Think different...that is how Steve started his transformation of Apple and therefore how we view the world.

A young man of 21 had a dream and he followed it. He and his partner began in his garage with a loan of $1,300.00 and went on to become the one of richest men in the world.

They followed their idea and as Bill Cosby said in my last blog - they were not afraid to take action.

Take a few minutes and view the commercial that started it all...THINK DIFFERENT!

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Good Sense

Recently there was a seminar visiting most major cities with the theme of " motivation".

The line up of speakers had some powerful and successful people such as Colin Powell, Terry Bradshaw, Football college coach Lou Holtz and Bill Cosby and others.

Cosby said too many people allow their lives to stagnate because they are afraid to take action.

The Lord helps those who help themselves, Cosby said, but too many people forget the last three words.

Cosby went on to say " I'm not here to sell you GOD, I'm just here to tell you some good sense."

He told the story about Jesus meeting a supplicant who wants his high blood pressure cured.

"Don't eat salt," Jesus tells him.
The supplicant expected more- a healing touch,perhaps- and says he's disappointed.

"Wait till you meet my father," Jesus replies.

DO NOT BE AFRAID TO TAKE ACTION

USE GOOD COMMON SENSE

Monday, October 3, 2011

THE YEAR WAS 1974

THIS WAS THE YEAR.... 1974 

US President: Richard Nixon

Headlines: Richard Nixon resigns Office of Presidency~ Pocket calculator hits the market ~ Amnesty granted to Vietnam Drafts evaders~ Gerald Ford sworn into Office of President~ Global Economic Recession deepens

Time Magazine Man ofthe Year: King Faisal of Saudi Arabia

Songs: Sunshine on My Shoulders~ Waterloo~ You're Sixteen~ I Shot the Sheriff~ I Honestly Love You~ The Way We Were~ The Loco Motion~ Another Saturday Night~ Cat's In the Cradle~ Benny and the Jet's~ Season in The Sun~ Band on the Run

Sports: Champions include the Oakland A's (baseball), Miami Dolphins (football)

Cost of Living: Granulated Sugar $.65 per 5lbs ~ New Car $3,950 ~ Gasoline $.40 per gallon ~ Eggs $.45 per dozen ~ Bacon $.82 per pound~ Ground Hamburg $.66 per pound ~ Fresh Bread $.28 per loaf ~ Postage Stamp $.08 ~ Average Rent $175

Fads: Streaking~ Earth Shoes ~ String Bikinis

Popular TV Shows: Chico and the Man~ The Jefferson's ~ Good Times ~  Happy Days~ The Six Million Dollar Man~ The Rockford Files ~ Little House on the Prairie

Popular Movies: The Exorcisit ~ The Great Gatsby ~ Chinatown ~ The Godfather, Part II~ The Longest Yard ~ The Towering Inferno ~ Young Frankinstien ~ Blazing Saddles ~ Airport 1975 ~ Harry and Tonto ~ Murder on the Orient Express